Digitally represented still images are commonly used in the computer environment as graphics for applications software and games and as digitally stored photographs that can be easily manipulated, printed and transmitted for commercial and entertainment purposes. Software packages are available for use in handling the data files in which such still images are stored. Such software packages include numerous editing capabilities including archiving the images, printing the images in various sizes and formats, and sending or uploading the images to other computers or users via the Internet or fax. Known photo editing software packages also include numerous other editing capabilities, including the ability to rotate an image, crop it, and correct its brightness, contrast, and tint. In addition, such software packages typically include the ability to cut portions out of one image and incorporate them into a collage, and to perform many other special effects.
In order to manipulate a still image digitally, a digital representation of the image is created, either by taking a digital photograph with a conventional digital camera, or by scanning an existing printed image or its film negative to generate a digital facsimile of the original. Once a digital representation of the image exists, it can be retrieved into the system memory of a computer and edited through the use of the photo editing software.
Conventionally, once a user has taken a group of photographs with a digital camera, he or she downloads the images to a computer either by connecting the camera directly to the computer through a serial port connection, or by transferring a flash memory card from the camera to a flash memory adapter of the computer, wherein the flash memory card contains the data files of the images. Alternately, a user will take pictures with a conventional film camera and obtain a copy of the pictures in digital format on a compact disc (“CD”) that can be read by a conventional CD drive on the user's computer.
Once the data files of the images are downloaded, they are opened in the photo editing software, and may be individually saved, manipulated, printed or sent to other users. However, because conventional photo editing software does not allow editing of the images as a group, a user must repeat any desired editing steps with each image in turn. This represents a drawback in the use of conventional photo editing software.
For example, if several of the images require rotation, the user must select each image individually within the photo editing software and rotate that image before selecting a different one of the images for rotation. As a result, the user must repeat the steps required to rotate the images several times until all of the images have been individually selected and edited. This process is slow and requires numerous repetitive user operations, impeding the ability of the user to quickly edit the group of images once they are downloaded.
Another example illustrative of the drawback arises when a user employs a scanner that produces a group of digitally represented still images that are all darker than desired. When a group of these images is opened in the photo editing software, the user must select each image and correct the brightness and contrast of the image before selecting a different one of the images and repeating the same editing operation. Often, the degree of brightness and contrast correction required is the same for all of the images in the group, and the steps employed to correct each image are identical to those employed with the other images. In addition, some of the images will also likely require rotation or some other type of editing, and these steps must be carried out separately for each image.